UNC Business & Administration

I recently got the chance to sit down with former UNC wideout and current Associate Athletic Director Corey Holliday. By the time he graduated in 1993, Holliday held the the school record for career receptions. He played in 47 games in his career and caught a pass in every one. Holliday went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers and now supervises UNC's football operations.

Paul Hardin, whose over-the-top enthusiasm led him to declare nearly every day the best day ever, every bite of his wife’s cooking the best dish ever and his position as UNC chancellor the best job ever, was celebrated at a memorial service Saturday as a superlative leader, family man and follower of Jesus Christ.

A memorial service was held Saturday afternoon for a former UNC chancellor who died last week after a battle with ALS. Paul Hardin III served as UNC's seventh chancellor from 1988 to 1995. He helped lead the school's yearlong bicentennial fundraising effort and celebration that culminated in late 1993 and included a visit from then-President Bill Clinton.

Flags at the UNC-Chapel Hill campus will be lowered to half-staff Saturday as a tribute to the late chancellor, Paul Hardin, who died July 1. Gov. Roy Cooper issued the order Thursday. All United States and North Carolina flags on the campus will be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Saturday.

The Carolina Blood Drive planning committee was saddened to learn that Chancellor Emeritus Paul Hardin III passed on July 1, 2017. Without Chancellor Hardin, the Carolina Blood Drive would not exist. The Carolina Blood Drive began in 1989 at the behest of Chancellor Hardin who was well aware of the critical need for blood during the summer months.

To better understand just how North Carolina’s faculty and researchers are impacting lives around the world, Chancellor Carol L. Folt traveled almost 8,000 miles to Zambia, Malawi and Kenya. By visiting Carolina partners and meeting with high-level diplomats, Folt saw firsthand how the University’s programs are aiding the developing world.

When Paul Hardin slipped away last week, North Carolina lost a brilliant and fine man, a UNC chancellor whose leadership was endearing, its lessons enduring. “This may be audacious, but here’s an idea,” I heard him say so often as a way to prepare us to hear how he might see the future differently. It was the good fortune of us all to learn from him.

This sort of thing is a bigger deal at a place like UNC than it would be at other schools. UNC has a ton of alumni and fans living outside of the range of the THSN. I know I wasn’t alone in muting Billy Packer and Dick Vitale in favor of Woody and Mick, but since I moved away from North Carolina in 2003, I haven't been able to listen to a game on the radio.

In the coming months, the NCAA will attempt to reiterate -- and perhaps redefine -- its role as the punitive arm of collegiate athletics. High-profile cases involving UNC and Louisville, both of which have been appealed, could act as deterrents for future rule-breakers or demonstrate the NCAA's limited power and reduced position in the era of the Power Five.

In the history of the Director’s Cup, Carolina has been out of the top 10 only four times. The Tar Heels were first in the ACC for the third consecutive year and the 18th time overall – no other school has led the ACC more than three times. This speaks to the university’s commitment to run a broad-based athletic program, offering more than 700 athletes a chance to compete.

Paul Hardin III, the steadfast lawyer and Methodist bishop’s son who steered UNC and three other campuses as they grew through tumultuous and historic times, has died. He was 86. Hardin spent 27 years as a leader in higher education — the final seven of those at the nation’s oldest state university under the sentimental glow of its bicentennial.

Earlier this week I got a chance to chat with Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Communications Rick Steinbacher. Steinbacher was an All-ACC linebacker under Mack Brown, as well as a former color commentator for the Tar Heel Sports Network. He embodies the things that bring UNC such distinction: passion, humility, community, and greatness.

A former North Carolina quarterback and defensive back, John Swofford is the first to applaud the athletes and coaches who earn championships and awards. But in concert with his staff and the league’s athletic directors and presidents, he has facilitated that success by maneuvering the ACC through expansion and media negotiations.

ACC Commissioner John Swofford announced Thursday that Kevin Best will join the conference office as Senior Associate Commissioner for Communications, and Mike Finn has announced he will retire at the conclusion of the 2017-18 academic year. Best will join the conference office after working 20 years at UNC in the Athletic Communications Office.

While the longstanding NCAA investigation may have saturated the headlines during the 2016-17 academic year, North Carolina’s athletics department excelled yet again on the field of play, highlighted by the men’s basketball program’s sixth NCAA championship. UNC is currently ranked sixth in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings.